Integrated Marketing Communication: A Case Study of Hilton Hotels and Resorts

This report explores the case study of Hilton Hotels and Resorts and critically evaluates their communication strategy, choice of channel, and creative content. It includes an overview of the company, current communication objectives, channels of communication, and recommendations for improving their marketing communication plan. The report also includes a background of the organisation, critical evaluation of objectives, and impact of creative content. The subject is Integrated Marketing Communication and the course code and college/university are not mentioned.

Integrated marketing
communication

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Critical evaluation of the case study involving communication strategy, choice of channel and
creative content................................................................................................................................3
Background of organisation...................................................................................................3
Current communication Objectives........................................................................................4
Critical evaluation of objectives.............................................................................................4
Channels of communications.................................................................................................5
Critical evaluation of channels of communications...............................................................6
Critical evaluation of creative content from marketing communication of organisation and
impact of creative content......................................................................................................6
Recommendations for improving marketing communications plan......................................7
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Integrated marketing communication is said to be a process that is used to unify the
components of marketing communication like social media, public relations as well as
advertising into a brand image which stays consistent throughout different channels of media.
This project is based on the case study of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) and there
will be exploration and critical evaluation of the marketing communications of an organisation.
In order to demonstrate different aspects of this report, Hilton Hotel is taken into consideration
which is a UK-based organisation (Blakeman, 2018). Within this portfolio, there will be an
overview of company along with the current communication objectives and evaluation of those
objectives. There will be a description on channels of communications with an evaluation.
Moreover, this portfolio also includes creative content from marketing communications of
company and its impact. Furthermore, recommendations will also be given to company to
improve marketing communication plan and a rationale for those recommendations.
MAIN BODY
Critical evaluation of the case study involving communication strategy, choice
of channel and creative content
Background of organisation
Hilton Hotels and Resorts is a global brand that is considered as a full-service hotels and
resorts and it is a flagship brand of the American Multinational Hospitality company Hilton. The
respective hotel was founded in the year 1919 by Conrad Nicholson Hilton within the hospitality
industry. The respective organisation is conducting its business operations throughout the world
and is concentrating on targeting the business as well as leisure travellers (Duralia, 2018). The
hotel was established when Conrad Hilton has purchased its initial property in Mobley hotel,
Texas. The hotel has developed its strategies along with the operations over the years and
because of the rapid advancements within the technologies, Hilton hotels also use digital services
which helps in maintaining customer loyalty with the business in a unique and remarkable way.
The hotel chain has concentrated on ensuring a relaxing as well as safe experience and has
overall 18 brands across the world.

Current communication Objectives
Communication objectives are the process of setting the targets for the process of
communication within the organisation. These types of objectives explain the target that an
organisation want to reach along wit its planned actions. By formulating communication
objectives in advance, the company can ultimately be evaluated whether the desired objective is
achieved or not (Juska, 2021). The SMART communication objectives are given as under for
Hilton Hotels and Resorts:
 Specific: To introduce a new product and service to have a profit margin of around 5%.
 Measurable: To enhance the sales operations by 6%.
 Achievable: It is achievable for the respective hotel to enhance the level of customers
and the market share by 4%.
 Realistic: In order to get 3% sales in a month with new service.
 Time Bound: To enhance the sales by 6% within 6 months after introducing the service.
Critical evaluation of objectives
In order to critically evaluate the communication objectives, the different components are
involved in the process of marketing communication mix. These communication objectives
applied on the marketing mix for the purpose of making communication in various elements of
marketing mix for achieving business objectives. The critical evaluation of communication
objectives are applied along with the elements of marketing mix that is given as follows:
Product: There are a wide variety of products as well as services within Hilton Hotel and some
of these products and services include food and beverages products, accommodation services,
leisure service, fitness centre, indoor lap pool, etc. For introducing new product or service in
certain market sector, the hotel should employ a large number of successful social media
advertising campaigns.
Price: According to investigation, Hilton Hotels and Resorts is attaining higher level of
profitability from its Premium Pricing Strategy (Kliatchko, 2019). However, when making
comparison to its competitors within the different segments of the market, such pricing strategy
is more expensive. In such case, the respective organisation must devise an effective pricing
strategy which is based on the geographical locations and promotional pricing strategy.
Place: The hotel has its footprints within various locations and in addition to it, some of the
products and services of the hotel may be found in restaurants, cafeterias as well as other

establishments. This has been discovered that the organisation does not make use of online
channels but in context to present scenario, it may be used by the hotel as it would help it in
enhancing the level of online market presence of the business (Porcu and et.al., 2019). This may
get achieved through making use of a digital marketing plan.
Promotion: This has been ascertained that Hilton hotels and resorts is making use of digital
media technologies in order to make sure that there is increment within the profits as well as
sales operations of the organisation. As this is a cost-effective promotional strategy, it also
provide assistance in extending the profit margins of the hotels. Hilton Hotels and Resorts can
enhance its present sales operations by making use of different marketing platforms.
Channels of communications
Channels of communication are the specific kinds of media through which a message is
sent or received. There are a wide number of communication channels and these channels
provide abilities of control and power to the managers along with the satisfaction and
performance to the manpower within the organisation. Some of the marketing communication
channels are discussed as under:
Personal Communication Channels
Email: It can be considered as a personal communication channel which is used by most
of the organisations in order to communicate personally with the market share. Hotels like Hilton
also makes use of marketing communication channel for interacting and communicating with
their loyal customers. The strength of this communication channel is that it will help the hotel in
communicating with its customers personally and directly through emails (Raja, 2020).
However, it has drawback also that emails sent by Hilton hotel can irritate its customers and this
can impact their interest towards the organisation.
Face-to-face: As per this communication channel, the hotel will be able to create a strong
bond wits its market-base as well as get fast responses from them. The respective hotel should
ensure face to face interaction with its market share with the support of stalls of its food products
to be placed at public places. The strength of such communication channel is that it is able to
make effective relationship with its customers along with getting valuable feedback from them.
The limitation of this communication channel is that inefficiency of sales person can impact
brand value of hotel in eyes of its customers.
Non-Personal Communication Channels

Print Media: With the help of this kind of communication channel, the Hilton Hotel can
be able to impact the attention of its large number of customers. There are various types of print
media and some of these are newspapers, magazines and many others which can provide
assistance to the hotel in spreading its information and data which is also a communication
channel but not a personal one (Taghipour, 2019). The hotel can use print media in order to
communicate its target-base and this can be considered as an effective marketing tactic which
will help it in enhancing the awareness regarding products and services of the organisation
within the market place.
Social Media: Within modern world, it has become an effective communication channel
in order to interact and communicate with the potential customers. With the help of online social
media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and many others, the hotel can advertise
and promote its products and services to its market share in an effective as well as efficient
manner.
Critical evaluation of channels of communications
From above description of different communication channels, it is critically evaluated
that Hilton hotel should think about the effective channel of communication for doing marketing
and getting involved with customers. The appropriate communication channel will have a crucial
influence on overall performance of organisation and will help to improve it. Hilton Hotel is
using online presence media as a marketing communication tool and this channel will help it in
acquiring a lot of market share and clients.
Critical evaluation of creative content from marketing communication of organisation and
impact of creative content
It is critically evaluated that this is very significant for Hilton Hotels and Resorts in order
to generate the innovative content which will inspire and motivate a large number of potential
market share within the market place (Zwerin, Clarke and Clarke III, 2020). This will positively
impact the customers towards the hotel regarding newly introduced products and services offered
by it. Hilton Hotels and Resorts offer a hygienic and healthy food product which will be healthy
for its customers as it will have no calories. This is very critical for the respective organisation
for providing the content which will capture a large number of target-base by providing essential
information.

Recommendations for improving marketing communications plan
From above explanation, it is recommended to the managers of Hilton Hotels and Resorts
that they should use other alternatives of marketing that are available within the market place as
it is not necessary that only people were using social media needs healthy and hygienic food
product but other people can also need it which will rely on other type of marketing
communication strategy. The hotel is also having an opportunity to use personal methods in
order to interact and communicate with its customer-base such as email marketing which helps in
providing emails to the market-base regarding new product introduced. This will help in
enhancing the level of profitability, productivity as well as efficiency within the organisation and
also increases its brand value within the market place.
CONCLUSION
From above explanation of the portfolio, it has been concluded that integrated marketing
communication plays a significant role in providing a unified message to customers through
several channels and hence has effective possibilities to capture market share. Within this
portfolio, different marketing channels have been explained and these marketing channels
provide assistance to organisation in achieving communication objectives through providing a
platform where it can promote its products and services by interacting with market share. It has
been also been conclude that integrated marketing communication strategy facilitates business in
creation of brand awareness through sharing organisational communication message to market
share along with various channels of marketing. This will help the company in enhancing its
brand value as well as goodwill within the industry. Various marketing tools and techniques
assist the business in communicating with a large number of market-base and gives an
opportunity where it can share its products and services.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Blakeman, R., 2018. Integrated marketing communication: creative strategy from idea to
implementation. Rowman & Littlefield.
Duralia, O., 2018. Integrated Marketing Communication and Its Impact on Consumer
Behavior. Studies in Business & Economics, 13(2).
Juska, J. M., 2021. Integrated marketing communication: advertising and promotion in a digital
world. Routledge.
Kliatchko, J., 2019. Integrated marketing communication: Putting the human person at the core.
Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Porcu and et.al., 2019. Analyzing the influence of firm-wide integrated marketing
communication on market performance in the hospitality industry. International
Journal of Hospitality Management, 80, pp.13-24.
Raja, M. A. S., 2020. Digital Integrated Marketing Communication (Dimc) and It's Logical
Relationship with Co-Branding and Brand Values with Reference to Coke
Studio. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 24(1), pp.1-21.
Taghipour, M., 2019. Effect of integrated marketing communication on brand value with the role
of agency's reputation (including case study). Journal of Process Engineering, 5(11),
pp.30-44.
Zwerin, A., Clarke, T. B. and Clarke III, I., 2020. Traditional and Emerging Integrated
Marketing Communication Touchpoints Used in Effie Award-Winning Promotional
Campaigns. Journal of Promotion Management, 26(2), pp.163-185.